Transmission



Jan. 20, 1953 P, B. SAUNDERS, JR 2,525,831

TRANSMISSION Filed Feb. 15, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 IEZEHZE: PAL 1B.SAUNDERS JR.

Jan? 1953 l P. B. SAUNDERS, JR

TRANSMISSION 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed Feb. 15, 1950 27.251: PAUL B.SAUNDERS JR.

Patented Jan. 20, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFl-LCE" TRANSMISSIONIaulB. Saunders, J'r., Aurora, I11

Amalieation'Februaryf15, 1950; Serial,Ni-,1414',224;-

2:Cl'aims. (01. 74-342,)

This. invention, relates to an improvement in the. operating mechanismofa toy.

, Aneimportant object of, the'inventionisto'provide' a toy with meansfor automatically changing theidireotion of its movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide aitoy having contactmembers and means operable; byv said; members to vary the direction ofmovement: of the toy;

Afrirtherobject of the invention is to provide a toy having at its endsobstacle contacting membars with means operable thereby for reversingthe directionof'movement ofrthetoyr Still another object :of the.invention is. to pros vide aztoywhich is simple in design, ruggediniconstruction and economical to ;m'anufaeture.

Other objects and advantagesof: the invention will -be apparent duringthe course of the following description of an embodiment illustrated byway of example in the accompanying' drawing-sin.v

which:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of atoy embodying principlesof thisinvention and show:- in'g 'in dotted'lines the outline of a vehiclebody;

Figure 2 is abottom' plan view of the'toyshown in'Figure 1';

Figures isa top plan view'thereof showing the relative position of-partsefiecting movementof' the toy in one direction;

Figure-A-isa similar view showing the relative:

position-of operating parts when the reversing mechanism has beenactuated to change the:

direction of 'movement of-thetoy; and

Figure 5 is. a horizontal cross-sectional view;

With'parts i'n-elevation', taken along the linel5-5' of Figure 3.

The improvements embodied in this invention are shown in the drawings,by way of example, in associationw-itha wheeled toy vehicle. It is tobe; understood, however, that thisinvention may be used with other toys,whether driven by' a propeller, or other means.

In the present instance, the invention is shown in Figure 1 applied toan: automobile having. .a

her 22 to slidenwith'in thefrfame [2 between. the frame, and ,the truckI'll Elongated,-slots.23,l 214- and, 25 in the frame/respectively,receivetherethrough fiat headed pins26, 21 and Z8,.carrie d. .by, theactuator member 22. Coactionvof .thelpins and slots limitsrelativeendwisemovement orth'e; actuator member on the frame.

Therearaxle assembly is mounted on theframe; by meansv of asub-frame 29.Aslcvestgshownin Figures 3 and, 4,; the sub-frame .issboxelike in,appearance and is moun edv directly oven the; actuator member 22Journalled in the, side walls. of the .suit-ffamev isgthe rear. axle laand other shaftswhich carry gears and pinions connecting a flywheel 30,tosth'e rear axle for drivingtheisame. Thefiywheel mounted on. one end0f a shaft ,3 withiapinion, 32xon the opposite end thereof. A firstidler. shaft 33 has mounted, on; an endthereof I a compound gear havinga gear portion and a pinionp orr tion 35. The gear portion 34 is inconstant meshing engagement with the pinion 3 2 An actuator. shaft- ,36-is journalled in. the side-H walls of the, sub-frame in spacedrelation-to the idler shaft 33. One end of theshaft36 extends beyond,the sub-frame; isujournalled in an actu atorsupport-i3], andhas: fixedlymounted thereon; a gear. 38 positionedbetween the support; 31andthenearestqsidewall ofv the sub-frame. Ashes-t; shown in; Figure 5-, thesupport 31 has a bottom: leg 31a whichxslidably fits. within.guide-slots 39:- and til in. the sidewalls. of the sub-frame:- This;permits the support to be shifted in a horizontal, direction in. which:the upright leg sl-b istmovable towardand away-lfromvthe; sub frame,Thel'n bv My ofithe geartfl-isperipherally grooved adjaeent; its:outenzend;;to'receive: therein he Q kfid 6 11 312), of :the. I actuator,support; Such an arrange ment permits the aetuatorwtoeShlftthQzSl-lfifit; 36.; in. an axiali endwise direction while: permittg rotation:of-thesshaft.

It: wilL be: noted-that; the pinion ,3 5-,is: sufliciently- Iwideytogpermit': the gear:.38 to 1be=shifted laterally;- with shaft ,36while;maintaininggcons-tant:mesh;

ingengagement .therebetweem The-limit :of :th

shifting of thageartileonrthe piniomtfiiiszshowm infiguresfiuand 4;.

Asecon'd idler ,shaft fivispositioned between: and slightly below shafts33 and 36. A compoundpinion on the; shaft. has .spaced. toothedgportionsfit 'and Mi with -a conneetingshubx lia It? willihe r noted in Figuree-that thehub 4a'5JliSuWide1 than? a pinion-46 carried b-ythe actuatorshafitfilix 'Ilhista is for a purpose =tobe more fully describedhereinaften A third idler shaft 41 (Figure 5) is journalled in thesidewalls of the sub-frame and has a wide pinion 48 thereon adjacent oneend. This pinion is between and in constant meshing engagement with thepinion 43 and a driving pinion 49 mounted on the vehicle rear axle l5.

The actuator support 31 is shifted laterally of the vehicle frame bymovement of the actuator member 22 in a lengthwise direction. As bestseen in Figures 2 and 4, the actuator member is provided with a slot 50which is disposed generally in an angular direction relative to thelongitudinal axis of the actuator member. A headed pinion 51 is carriedby the leg 31a of the actuator support 31 and the shank of the pin seatswithin the slot 50.

During movement of the vehicle, should the rear bumper 52 or the frontbumper 53 encounter any obstruction such as a Wall, a piece offurniture,.or the like, the force of the impact moves the actuatormember backward. As seen in Figures 2 and 3, movement of the actuatormember forwardly on the vehicle moves pin to the rear end of the slot 50and thereby displaces the pin to one side of the longitudinal axis ofthe vehicle frame. This displacement of the pin simultaneously effects alateral movement of the actuator support 31. In Figure 3 is shown thelateral movement of the actuator support in one direction and in Figure4 lateral movement thereof in the opposite direction.

When the actuating member 22 is moved forward (Figure 3) the actuatorsupport 31 is shifted to .the right which brings pinions 44 and 46 intomeshing engagement. Motion of the flywheel 30 is transmitted to the rearwheels l6, l6 of the vehicle successively through pinion 32, gear 34,pinion 35, gear 38, and pinions 46, 44, 43, 48 and 49. Rotation of theflywheel in a clockwise direction effects forward movement of theVehicle.

On contact of the front bumper 53 with an obstruction, the actuatingmember is moved to the rear and by cooperation of the slot 50 and pin 5|the actuator support 31 is moved to the left or toward the sub-frame. Inthis relative position, the pinion 46 is moved out of engagement withpinion 44 and into engagement with pinion 48. This eliminates the pinion44 from the chain of power transmission thereby effecting a reversal ofrotation of the vehicle wheels and a change in direction of movement ofthe vehicle.

On contact with the rear bumper 52 with an obstruction, reversal ofmovement of the vehicle is automatically effected. It will be obviousthat movement of the vehicle in backward and forward directions willcontinue so long as rotation of the flywheel is sustained.

Rotation at high speed of the flywheel is accomplished by pushing thevehicle rapidly in.

relatively short strokes several times over a surface such as a floor.As the vehicle is pushed more rapidly with each stroke, a faster spin isimparted to the flywheel through the gear train. The inertia of theflywheel weighted at its periphery tends to maintain and prolongmovement of the vehicle over a floor or other surface.

Although the toy described herein is a wheeled vehicle, it is apparentthat the reversing mechanism can equally well be applied to a toy drivenby a propeller, such as an airplane or boat.

The invention has been described herein more or less precisely as todetails, yet it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedthereby, as changes may be made in the arrangement and proportion ofparts and equivalents may be substituted, without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. Reversing mechanism for a toy, comprising a wheel mounted frame, afirst actuator mounted on said frame for reciprocal movement thereon inone direction thereof and having a slot extending angularly with respectto the path of said movement, a second actuator mounted on said framefor reciprocal movement angularly with respect to said first actuatorand having a pin engaging within said slot, the slot and pin arrangementbeing such that the reciprocal movement of one actuator effectsreciprocal movement of the other, a shaft mounted for rotation andendwise movement and having a peripheral groove, an actuating memberoperable with one of said actuators and seated in said peripheral grooveto permit the shaft to rotate, a driving gear carried by and rotatablewith said shaft, and spaced driven gears separately engageable by thefirst mentioned gear, said driving gear being movable with the shaft bythe actuating member into and out of engagement alternately with saidspaced gears whereby to change the direction of movement of said toy.

2. Reversing mechanism for a toy, comprising a wheel mounted U-shapedframe, a first actu ator mounted in said frame for reciprocal movementlengthwise thereof and having a slot extending angularly with respect tothe path of said movement, a second actuator mounted on said frame forreciprocal movement laterally thereacross and having a pin engagingWithin said slot, relative movement of the pin and slot efiectingreciprocal movement of one actuator by reciprocal movement of the other,a shaft having a peripheral groove adjacent one end thereof, bearingsmounting said shaft for rotation and endwise movement, a forked memberoperable with said second actuator and seated in said peripheral grooveto permit the shaft to rotate, a driving gear carried by and rotatablewith said shaft, a driven gear through which the toy is actuated, andspaced idler gears one of which is in meshed engagement with the drivengear, said driving gear being movable with said shaft through the forkedmember by said second actuator into and out of engagement alternatelywith said driven gear and the other of said idler gears.

PAUL B. SAUNDERS, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 367,420 Luchs Aug. 2, 1887694,028 Protheroe Feb. 25, 1902 768,268 Clark Aug. 23, 1904 819,812Schutze May 8, 1906 991,275 Clark May 2, 1911 1,101,060 Clark June 23,1914 1,388,113 Huth Aug. 16, 1921 1,547,517 Nefi July 28, 1925 1,603,261Adams Oct. 19, 1926 2,149,180 Muller Feb. 28, 1939

